Italy to expel dangerous Europeans, eyes Romania

Italy's centre-left Government, long accused by critics of being soft on immigration, has pushed through a decree allowing police to expel European Union (EU) citizens believed to be a danger to society.

The decree was signed by Italy's President, Giorgio Napolitano, on Thursday (local time) and followed a spate of violent crimes, many blamed on immigrants from new EU member Romania - including an attack on a naval officer's wife whose plight has gripped Italians.

She died on Thursday after slipping into a coma.

"In the first seven months of the year, Romanians made up 75 per cent of the arrests of those who raped, stole, killed. We clearly have a specific problem," said Rome's Mayor Walter Veltroni, citing crime statistics in the capital.

Prime Minister Romano Prodi, a former head of the European Commission, noted that crimes by Romanians were "not just a problem involving Italy" and suggested he might discuss the matter with other states.

EU citizens are allowed to travel freely across borders, but Italian officials say the new expulsion powers are permitted under European Union rules.

Under the decree, police would be given the power to expel EU citizens considered to be dangerous to society, and those who returned illegally could be jailed for up to three years.

No trial would be necessary before an expulsion and justifications could include past criminal convictions, an interior ministry spokesman said.

A centre-right political leader demanded that authorities be given the right to expel EU citizens who could not financially support themselves.

Despite protests from a union of Italian criminal lawyers, President Giorgio Napolitano gave the decree his necessary signature on Thursday evening. It must be approved by parliament within 60 days to become law.

Free trade is the oldest argument in federal politics and the issue that literally defined the federation era but opposition exists to the TPP, courtesy of the Investor-State Dispute Resolutions clause.